A nice recap of Oregon's uni combos this year. And yes, they had a different combo for every game. Sometimes a shirt, or a helmet, or sometimes an entirely different color combo (still surpirsed no all-neon yellow look this year).To think we bitch about striping changes every couple years on an away jersey...

Jim Mora: "Striping? You're talking about striping?"

"So I come out of Ohio Stadium after we beat the Buckeyes, and right there on the hood of my friend's car, some one took a dump, in the shape of an 'O'. no shit. Oh, sorry, bad pun."

That Nike money Oregon gets is what has elevated their program. Including the uniforms(some of which I thought were pretty cool), Nike has upgraded every sports facilities there to where Oregon has the best in the nation in most sports.

I have hated all of Oregon's old jerseys but this year (and last if they were wearing these) they have some of the coolest jerseys in NCAA. If I were a recruit their facilities and jerseys would be a huge pull.

USA today reported after 2006 new uniforms that they had 384 different combinations of jersey, pants, helmet, shoes, and socks. They added a new helmet in 2007, which (according to wikipedia and I'm to lazy to do math) bumped it up to 512. They introduced new jerseys (with wings and more) in 2009, which, according to Uni Watch, bumps their total up to 2,456 different combinations.

I think it's brilliant. Due to the introdution of the wings the team is recognizable even if you can't see the O on the helmet, no matter the colors. Eventually, they can eschew school colors altogether and go with any color combo they think looks good that week. It's the MTV logo of sports jerseys. I don't like the numbers very much and it took them a while to reach a place where the combos look alright, but give them some credit for introducing a little avant garde into the football jersey world. We, Penn State, and ND represent the opposite part of that spectrum but I can appreciate trying to do something new.

I'd rather be a Michigan or ND with the iconic traditional look, but barring that I think what Oregon is doing is brilliant and will boost recruiting. Of course, being 12-0 helps too. If you're 5-7 those uniforms just open you up to ridicule.

"Just for once I'd like to see all these things sort of straightened out, with each person getting exactly what he deserves. It might give me some confidence in this universe."

You're a traditionalist. So am I, and there's plenty of things about basketball courts that annoy me. Mostly those involve corporate logos. Gigundo logos at center court, like Clemson's paw print that looks like Godzilla the Cat stepped on it, annoy me. Hard to say why a get-off-my-lawner like me likes that court so much, maybe I think the court is a better place than the uniforms for the kind of new-age stuff Oregon does. Or maybe it's because the court and arena are about creating an atmosphere and they're better suited to that than uniforms are. I just like it. A lot.

If I was in high school, I would think thats pretty cool. Combine that with their facilities and they're a very attractive option for top recruits. Im glad that we arent outfitted with Nike anymore cause than we would have to do shit like Ohio State and have awkward uniform combinations.

That's nuts. I just looked at it, and here are the colors by uniform component:

Helmets: Black, Green, Silver, White (4)

Jerseys: Black, Green, Silver, White, Yellow (5)

Pants: Black, Green, Silver, White (4)

Socks: Black, White (2)

Shoes: Black, Green (white with green wingtips), and White (3)

Doing a quick calc, there are 4 x 5 x 4 2 x 3 = 480 possible combinations. I didn't include undershirts because, although there are 2 different colors (silver and green), I'm guessing not everyone wore them. If we did include them, however, you'd have 960 possible uniform combinations. That's crazy.

Of course, they may just bust out some other funky shoes (like black with yellow) or something for the MNC game...

I know they did in past seasons, but I based my numbers on the OP's link which did not show a yellow helmet. If they do have a current yellow hat, they haven't worn it yet this season. One possibility is that they're saving it for the bowl game...

They never really had much of an identity before Nike came on-board strong with their athletics. Although some of their combos are hideous, some are extremely cool and promote their program more than a bland green/white/greenhelmet or white/white/greenhelmet uniform does.

Some schools are known for their constants, like Bama and PSU, and even UM to the extent of our helmets, but I think it's great that some schools are willing to change up their appearance.

I think the popular consensus is that this IS the Oregon identity now. It obviously doesn't work for everyone just like everyone doesn't need winged helmets cause that's our thing. But it definitely is their "thing". When you think of Oregon football the jerseys quickly come to mind, which has to be considered a branding success to some extent.

That's partially because Oregon had no real identity. I'm trying to think back on the "history" of Oregon and I get a vague picture of Joey Harrington...and that's it. Oregon is as manufactured as T. Boone Pickens Stadium.

That's not really a criticism as much as the reality of the situation. Nike gave Oregon football success and I'm sure there are quite a few Oregon AD folks that will try the same with basketball.

My perspective on the Oregon uniforms/gimmickry is this: Are we talking about Oregon football right now? On a Michigan board?

It's genius marketing. Those uni's put them on the map, and everything they do with them brings exposure to their program. It gets people to talk about Oregon football, no matter if they're good or bad.

We have the winged helmet. They have day-glo and carbon-matte-space-whatever fabrics and helmets and all that. It's all branding, and theirs works about a million times better than most schools out there.